Box making machine



Dec. 15, 1942. A. 1 Rosi-:NMUND 2,305,391

i BOX MAKING MACHINE Filed June 4, 1941 Y 3 'Shee`bS`-Sheet l [IllINVENTOR.

Alfred L. senmund. F/g. WFM

ATTORNEY Dec. 15,` 1942. A, L ROSENMUND 2,305,391

` l Box MAKING MACHINE Filed June 4, 1941 3 Sheets--Sheet 2 I INVENTOR.{I4/fred .Rosenmund.

ATTORNEY Dec. 15, 1942. A. l.. Rosi-:NMUND BOX MAKING MACHINE` FiledJune 4, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. Bd/fred L. Rose/mund.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 15, 1942 Box MAKING MACHINE Alfred L. Rosenmund, Woodport,N. J., assigner to Stapling Machines Co., a corporation of Delawa/reApplication .time 4, 1941, yserial No. 396,509

12 Claims.

, This invention relates to machines for making boxes and crates andparticularly to machines for making wirebound boxes and crates. y

It is an object of the invention to provide certain improvements in themachine shown Vand described in my pending application Serial Number349,100, iiled August l, 1940, whereby the efficiency of said machinemay be increased Yand the quality of its product improved.

Speciiicallyv the invention is intended to provide means for reducingthe crumpling or buckling of the staples and-for locating moreaccurately the staples in the Work, means to improve the anchorage ofthe staple legs in the work, and means automatically to stop the machinewhen it is subjected .to an overload.l

One illustrative embodiment of the `invention is shown in theaccompanying drawings, lin which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of the rear or deliveryend ofa machine embodying the invention, certain partsbeing vbroken away forclearness of illustration.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged side view of the lower portion oi the staplingmechanism shown in Fig. 1, viewed from the opposite side and showing astaple formed and ready to be driven into box parts.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan viewtci the bottom surface of the stapleformer as seen from the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged side view of a portion oi' the staplingmechanismand the cooperating work support, showing, in broken lines,Vthe position of the staple former and'driver prior to a staple drivingoperation and, in full lines, the position of the staple former anddriver at the completion of a staple driving operation. v

Fig. 5 is an .enlarged perspective view of a staple formed by thestapling mechanism, showing the oppositely-disposed beveled points whichcause the staplelegs when driven to run in opposite directions.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged diagrammatic view showing, in dotted lines, thedirection of travel oi the staple legs whenthe staple is drivenvertically downward over a binding wire andinto a vertically supportedcleat, and showing the tendency of one leg of the staple so driven todeflect toward the side of the cleat and emerge therefrom.

Fig. 7 is a sectional View taken on the line 'l-l of Fig. 4, showing howthe work support tilts the cleat at an angle to the AVertical to preventthe point of the staple leg 4from driving through the side of the cleat.

(ci. i-azi Fig. 8 is an enlarged diagrammatic view somewhat similartoFig. '7, showing how the point of a. staple leg would be driven throughthe side ci a vertically-positioned cleat (shown in broken lines) andhow the staple points would be coniined within a cleat positioned at theproper angle to the vertical (shown in full lines).

Fig. 9 is a fragmentaryV transverse sectional Viewoi the work'conveyersand work supports viewed from the right in Fig. l, showing how the worksupports at either side ci the machine tilt the cleats at an angle tothe vertical during ,a staple driving operation.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged side elevation of a portion of the rear end ofthe machine showing the automatic overload release or safety device withits parts in operative position, causing the machine to cease operating.

Fig. 11 is a top plan View of the same.

Fig. 12 is the wiring diagram control circuit shown in my applicationSerial Number 349,106, with the electrical control circuit -for theoverload release or safety device added.

In the machine of any said pending application Serial Number 349,100,the box parts, usually comprising cleats and superimposed sheets of thinside material, are fed by a continuously moving conveyer to stapleforming and driving units which contact the moving workr and movetherewith during a staple driving operation.` The operation of thestapling units is controlled to locate the staples at predeterminedselected points in the work. Said machine is provided with anautomatically adjustable work support located directly beneath eachstapler unit to properly position and support the work during eachstaple driving operation. Reference is hereby made to said pendingapplication for a detailed description of said mechanisms and theoperations thereof.

In the machine ci said pending application, the staple former on itsdownward reciprocating movement contacts the moving work and byfrictional engagement therewith is moved with the work just prior to andduring a staple driving operation. Such a frictional engagement permitsoccasional slippage between the staple former and the work, with aresulting defective or inaccurate stapling operation. The presentinvention provides a positive engagement of the staple former withthework just prior to and during a staple driving operation, to preventany slippage or relative movement between the vwork Aandthe stapleformer during this criticalperiod of time.

In the machine of said pending application, the automatically adjustablework support for the cleats has a horizontal supporting -'surface and sosupports the cleats in a vertical position. When a cleat is sosupported, one leg of each staple driven over a binding wire positionedalong the center line of the cleat has a tendency to run out a side ofthe cleat. In the present invention, the work support is provided with asupporting surface at an angle to the horizontal so that the cleat ispositioned at an angle to the vertical during a staple drivingoperation, and such positioning tends to prevent either leg of thestaple from running out at a cleat side.

In the machine of said pending application, machine parts areoccasionally damaged or broken when the machine jams underan overload.The present invention providesv an automatic safety or overload deviceto stopgthe machine when for any reason it is overloaded unduly.

The improvements referred to will nowV be described in the ordermentioned.

Means for positively engaging the staple former and the moving work Astaple forming and driving unit is shown at the upper right-hand cornerof Fig. 1. A staple former I equipped with means for positively engagingthe moving Work is best shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4. As there shown, thestaple former I is recessed at 2 to receive the nut or head 3 of a boltIl threaded into a hole in the staple former. The nut 3 is of suchthickness as to be substantially flush with the bottom surface of thestaple former I and has depending therefrom a cone-shaped member orl pin5 extending below the bottom surface of the staple former, to be driveninto the upper surface 'of the work, on the down stroke of the stapleformer, and thus to lock the staple former and the work against relativemovement. As shown by dot-and-dash lines in Fig. 4, the pin 5 enters thebox part just prior to a staple driving operation and, as shown by fulllines, moves the staple former with the work during the staple drivingoperation. The elimination of relative movement between the stapleformer and the work during a staple driving operation reduces thetendency of the staple to crumple or buckle. It should also be notedthat the positive engagement between the staple former and the Workrenders an accurate vertical adjustment of the staple former unnecessaryand permits a reduction in the pressure of the staple former on thework, thus reducing the load on the machine.

Work support and postioner As best shown in Figs. 5 to 9 inclusive, thework support 0 has its upper surface beveled at an angle to thehorizontal, as at 1, to tilt the cleat at an angle to the vertical justprior to and during the driving of the staple. Such a tilting reducesthe tendency cf the staple legs to run out at one side of the cleat, asnow explained.

Fig. 6 illustrates the tendency of one staple leg to run out at the sideof a cleat when the staple is driven into a vertically positioned cleat.In said figure, the cleat designated I2 is moving in the direction ofthe arrow. The staple I0 is driven over a binding wire Ii, and, when thestaple legs enter the cleat, the forward leg 8 and ,the trailing leg 9are deflected as shown. Because the forward leg 8 is deected in thedirection of movement of the cleat I2, it does not run out at the cleatside. Thel trailing leg 9, however, being deflected against the movementof the cleat I2, frequently runs out at the cleat side, as shown in Fig.6. Fig. 8 shows this tendency of one leg of the staple to run out at acleat side when driven into a vertically positionedr cleat, as shown indot-and-dash lines in said ligure. The same figure shows how thistendency is reduced when the staple is driven into a cleat positioned atan angle to the vertical, as shown in full lines in said figure. Asshown in -said figure, when the beveled .portion 'I of the support Ii4contacts the cleat I2, it tilts the cleat at an angle to the verticaland thereby moves the lower portion of the cleat to the right g andincreases the amount of cleat material the staple leg 9 must passthrough before running out at the side of the cleat.

Since the staples l0 are drivenv at the same anglev relative to thebinding wire at each side of the machine, it is necessary that both theleft and the right cleats I2 be similarly tilted, as shown in Fig. 9.

The flexing quality of the thin box side material permits a tilting ofthe cleats in the manner described. l

The work support 6 is raised just prior to each staple driving operationto force the upper surface of the box parts into contact with the casingof the stapler unit and is supported inraised position and moves withthe work during. the stapling operation, all as shown and described inmy said application Serial, Number 349,100. During this raisingandpositioning movementof the work support 6, the beveled surface '1ofthe present invention tilts the cleat I2 at an angle to the vertical. 4

Overload release Figs. 1, 10, and 11 show the drive mechanisms for themachine of said application Serial Number 349,100, with the overloadrelease of the present invention applied thereto.

A main drive sheave I5, rotatably mounted on a main shaft 21, is drivenfrom a motor I3, by belts I4. The stapler units are operated from shaft21 when drive sheave I5 is clutched to shaft 21, all as described insa-id application Serial Number 349,100.

The work conveyers 26trained over sprocket wheels 25 fast on a shaft 24,are moved in the direction of the arrow in Figs. 1 and 10 by a train ofmechanisms connecting a sprocket I6 on the hub of drive sheave I5 to a.sprocket 23 fast on shaft 24, as best shown in Fig. 1. Such train ofmechanisms comprises a chain I1 connecting sprocket I 6 to a sprocket I8on a shaft I9, a series of gears connecting shaft I9 to a shaft 20, anda chain 22 connecting a sprocket 2I on shaft 20 to a sprocket 23 onshaft 24. The starting and stopping of Work conveyers -26 is controlledby a clutch interposed .between sprocket I3 and shaft I9, all asdescribed in said application Serial Number 349,100,V reference to whichis made for a detailed description of the mechanisms for operating thestapler units `and the work conveyers. p l In the machine of the saidapplication, when the clutched conveyer drive sprocket I8 wassubmittedto an undue overload, such as, for instance, might possibly be caused bya cleat being caught between the under surface of the conveyer band 26and the face of the conveyerl band sprocket 25, causing an excessiveload or perhapsrjammngthe.. conveyery mechanism, the. clutchVhousedwithin the vconveyer 'drive' sprocket I3 wouldslip,eliminatingpany severe .damage to theconveyer mechanism,.but.permitting. serious damage to the staple former-driver unit. `Forexamplezlt is a normal condition to havethe mainy drive sheave I5 rotateat 300 revolutions perJminute, and withv the main shaft 21 clutchedthereto, each revolution is also a cycle'of operation of the Staplers,during which a staple ID is formed and driven. Thus, 300-staples aredriven per minute. Any hesitation or stopping of the conveyer bands 25permits the driving of a considerable number of staples at one point inthe box. material. This condition causes serious damage to the staple.outlet portion of the vertical internal grooves of the `staple formerI, to the driving portion of the driver member, and to other staplerelements.

The automatic overload device of this invention stops the conveyer bandmechanism' and the stapler mechanism when the load on the drivenconveyer mechanism exceeds a predetermined safe load, thus eliminatingthe damage mentioned above.

As best shown in Figs. and 11, there is fastened to a machine framemember 29, a depending plate 28 having a bore 3l) adjacent its -lowerextremity. Loosely journaled in the bore 30 is a shaft'SI having securedon its innermost end an-arm 32 which accommodates a stud 33 which hasrotatably mounted thereon an idler sprocket 34. At its other end, shaft3I carries an arm 35 extending upwardly adjacent the outside surface ofthe plate 28 at a predetermined angle with the arm 32. The arm 35 iscontinually urged toward a stop member 36 by the action of a tensionspring 31 which' has one of its ends fastened to the uppermost portionof the arm 35 and its other end fastened to an adjustable anchor 38. Theadjustable anchor 33 is slidably mounted horizontally'in a support block39 carried by arms ESpermanently secured to the plate 28.

Threaded on the end portion of the adjustable anchor 38 which extendsbeyond the support block 3K9, are a pair of lock nuts 44 which providean adjusting means whereby the length of the adjustable anchor 38 may bevaried as desired, thus increasing or decreasing the load on the tensionspring 31. The arm 35 has threaded through its upper portion, parallelto the plate 28,-an adjustable stud 4I accommodating alocking element.The stud 4I located on the arm 35, will actuate an electric switch 42fastened to the outsidel surface of the plate 28 whenthe arm 35 is movedfrom left to right.

The operation of this device as an automatic overload release is asfollows: 22, having a sufficient amount of slack purposely allowed, istrained about the sprockets ZI and 23 with its driving side 44 trainedover the uppermost teeth of the idler sprocket 34, as illustrated inFigs. l, 10, and 1l. The tension on the driving side 44 of the drivechain 22, when the machine is in operation, tends to produce a downwardforce upon the idler sprocket 54 and to straighten out the driving side44 oi the drive chain 22. This is counteracted by the pull of thetension spring 31 on the upwardly extending arm 35. The proper settingof the tension spring 31 to counteract the downward force of the drivingside 44 of the drive chain 22 under a predetermined safe driving loadcan be determined, since the downward vforce of the driving side 44 ofthe drive chain 22 is propor- The drive chainY K tional vto the drivingv.load along `the drvingrslde 44 of the vdrive chain 22, ias shown inFigll. Should the load on the conveyer drive sprocket I 8 Aincreaseabove the predeterminedsafeload and jam the machine', the tensionin thedriving side 44 of the drive chainv 22 increases, thus increasing thedownward force on the 'idlersprocket 34 above the predeterminedcounteractive force of the tension spring 31,7which `causes the shaft 3|to rock'clockwise to move the upwardly extending arm 35 from the leftor'normalposi-- tion (Fig. 1) to the right to bring the-adjustable stud4I in contact with and to open-the normally-closed electric switch 42,-which'immediately 'causes the driving mechanisms of -both theconveyer-bands'25 and the'staplers to cease instantly.,` thussafeguarding V.the conveyerbands Z5 and 4their relative drivingniechanismf-and preventingfany serious damage to the stapleformer-driver units. After the'cause` of jam-v mingthe Amachine has beencorrected, the electricl switch 42 Vis reset manually 'by the `vpushbutton 43.

Fig.` 12 shows a diagram of the electrical control circuit. of vthemachine of my application Serial Number 349,100, and, vadded theretmtheelectrical circuit of the overload releasevdevice. The conveyers 25 areset in motion by the 'clutching of the conveyer` drive sprocket'IS tothe conveyer drive shaft I9 and of other co-acting mechanism to the'conveyerA band sprockets 25, through the energizing of a conveyer`clutch solenoid 45. This is caused by moving a handle 45 of an operatorscontrol switch 41 to the startingposition, which closes a contact 48.This energizesA a solenoid `contacter` 49 by allowing current to passthrough a magnetic coil 5!) and closes contacts 5I and 52 while at theSametime opening contact 53. Current passes through contact 52 toenergize the conveyer clutch solenoid 45, vwhich disengages a conveyerclutch brakeagainst the action or" a brake spring 51.. Opening thecontact 53 leaves-a main clutch solenoid 54 free to act in accordancewith the `'action of a switch 55, which controls Vthe operation of thestapling mechanism. The Voverload release switch 42 is normallyclosedyand is inthe line of magnetic coil 5I) and starting contact '548Tof the operators control switch 41. When the conveyer bands 25 aresubjected to a loadbeyond the predetermined safe load, theoverloadvrelease switch 42 -will be actuated by the adjustable stud 4Iof the upwardly-extendingarm 55. With contact broken in the overload.releaseswitch 42 (which must be -reset manually)A current ceases to passthrough the magnetic coil 50, which deenergizes the solenoid contactor4S and opens` the contacts 5I and 52 while`at the same time closingcontact 53. When current ceases to iiow through the contact 52, theconveyer clutch solenoid 45 is deenergized, which permits the brakespring 51 to apply the conveyer clutch brake 56 to disengage the clutchfrom the conveyer drive sprocket IB. Current, passing through contact53, which is closed, energizes the main clutch solenoid 54 and stopsrotation of the main shaft 21 and the stapler mechanism as well, bydeclutching the main drive sheave I5. The result is equivalent to movingthe handle 48 of the operators control switch 41 to stop position, whichmeans that no current passes through the contact 48 of the operatorscontrol switch 41. All operating mechanisms of the machine are now atrest, excepting the main drive sheave I5 and conveyer drive sprocket I8,

until the push button 43 of the overload release switch 42 vis resetafter the cause of the overload has been eliminated.

Among other advantages, the machine of this invention produces a betterproduct and reduces machine upkeep costs.

It will be understood that the invention is not to be limited to thespecic embodiment shown herein for illustration and that all of thefeatures of the invention need not be used conjointly, as they may beused to advantage in various combinations as defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. In a box-part stapling machine having means to move box parts andhaving staple forming and driving mechanism movable with the box partsduring a staple driving operation, a staple former provided with apointed projection adapted to be driven into a box part to lock thestaple former and the box part against relative movement during a stapledriving operation.

2. In a box-part stapling machine having means to move box parts andhaving staple forming and driving mechanism movable with the box partsduring a staple driving operation, a staple former provided with a pinadapted to be driven into a box part to lock the staple former and thebox part against relative movement during a staple driving operation.

3. In a box-part stapling machine having means to move box parts andhaving staple forming and driving mechanism movable with the box partsduring a staple driving operation, a staple former provided with meansadapted to be driven into a box part to lock the staple former and thebox part against relative movement during a staple driving operation.

4. In a box-part stapling machine having means to move box parts andhaving staple forming and driving mechanism movable with the box partsduring a staple driving operation, an automatically adjustable Worksupport provided with a beveled supporting surface adapted to tilt a boxpart at an angle to the vertical and to hold it in such tilted positionduring a staple driving operation.

5. In a box-part stapling machine having means to move box parts andhaving staple forming and driving mechanism movable with the box partsduring a staple driving operation, a staple former provided with meansadapted to be driven into a box part to lock the staple former and thebox part against relative movement during a staple driving operation,and an automatically adjustable Work support provided with a beveledsupporting surface adapted to tilt the box part at an angle to thevertical and to hold it in such tilted position during a staple drivingoperation.

6. In a box-part stapling machine having means to move box parts andhaving staple forming and driving mechanism movable with the box partsduring a staple driving operation, a staple former provided With'meansto lock the staple former. and the box part against relative movementduring a staple driving operation.

7. In a box-part stapling machine having means to move box parts andhavingy staple forming and driving mechanism movable with the box partsduring a staple driving operation, a staple former provided with meansto prevent the staple former from slipping on the moving box part duringa staple driving operation.

8. In a box-part Y stapling machine having means to move box parts andhaving staple forming and driving mechanism movable with the box partsduring a staple driving operation, means to lock the staple former andthe box part against relative movement during a staple drivingoperation.

9. In a box-part stapling machine having means to move box parts andhaving staple forming and driving mechanism movable with the box partsduring a staple driving operation, means to prevent the staple formerfrom slipping on the moving box part during a staple driving operation.

10. In a box-part stapling machine having a drive shaft, a drive sheaverotatably mounted on the drive shaft, means to clutch the drive sheaveto the drive shaft to rotate the drive shaft, a conveyer for the boxparts, and stapling mechanism operable upon rotation of the drive shaft:a safety device comprising means automatically to break the clutchingengagement between the drive sheave and the drive shaft when the machineis subjected to a predetermined overload.

11. In a box-part stapling machine having a drive shaft,v a drive sheaverotatably mounted on the drive shaft, means to clutch the drive sheaveto the drive shaft to rotate the drive shaft, a conveyer for the boxparts, and stapling mechanism operable upon rotation of the drive shaft:a safety device comprising electrically operable means automatically tobreak the clutching engagement between the drive sheave and the driveshaft when the machine is subjected to a predetermined overload.

12. In a box-part stapling machine having a drive shaft, a drive sheaverotatably mounted on the drive shaft, means to clutch the drive sheaveto the drive shaft to rotate the drive shaft, a conveyer for the boxparts, and stapling mechanism operable upon rotation of the drive shaft:a safety device comprising means controlled by the load on the conveyerto break the clutching engagement between the drive sheave and the driveshaft.

ALFRED L. ROSENMUND.

